1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic image size switching camera and, more particularly, to a photographic image size switching camera having means for clearly showing information on the size of a photographic image to third parties, in particular, processing laboratories.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, cameras have been commercialized which are capable of taking a pseudo-panoramic photograph by forming a rectangular photographic image having the upper and lower portions of the photographic image of an ordinary standard size (24.times.36 mm) as non-exposed portions by using a JIS135 film and printing this photographic image. Some of these cameras make it possible-to take photographs in which photographed images of both a standard size and a panoramic size are present on one roll of loaded film.
Progress in camera automation has been made in film processing laboratories. There are some processing laboratories in which an automation apparatus which automatically performs all the photography steps from film development to printing has been introduced.
However, the above automation apparatus has disadvantages in that since only printed images of one size can be obtained, a size of a printed image photographed in the panoramic size desired by the user cannot be obtained, and an unnatural photograph having a black zone in the upper and lower portions thereof is obtained, in a case where if, for example, film which includes photographic images of the standard size and panoramic size described above is printed automatically in the standard image size.
Therefore, when one roll of film includes photographed images of different sizes as described above, such printing mistakes as described above must be prevented by, for example, switching a printing process to a manual operation in a developing laboratory. Thus, there has arisen the necessity to know the size of photographed images within a film to be developed.
As a result, in recent years, before film is submitted to a processing laboratory, an "identification seal" indicating that a panoramic photograph has been taken has been attached on the outer peripheral surface of a film cartridge by the photographer. Thus, the processing laboratory knows the photographed image size on the basis of the information on the "identification seal".
However, such image size determination method in which an "identification seal" has to be attached on the surface of a film cartridge, is inconvenient to a photographer. In addition, the method lacks accuracy, for example, the photographer may attach a wrong seal by mistake or forget to attach a seal.